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Philosophies of Modernism

Philosophies of Modernism. Overall Ideas of Modernism. It was a literary movement of the early 20 th Century Daring experimentation Rejection of traditional themes and styles of the 19 th century and realism Started as a result to the emergence of city life as a central force of society.

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Philosophies of Modernism

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  1. Philosophies of Modernism

  2. Overall Ideas of Modernism • It was a literary movement of the early 20th Century • Daring experimentation • Rejection of traditional themes and styles of the 19th century and realism • Started as a result to the emergence of city life as a central force of society

  3. Feelings of Disillusionment • Disillusionment: Free from illusions or ideals • Spiritually empty; no faith in God or man • Life is unfair; the rules of life don’t work • It was a result of World War I • Distrusted ideas and values of the past • Writers began to turn away from style, form, and content of 19th century literature (esp. realism)

  4. So What is Realism? • Realism: A style of writing, developed in the 19th century, that attempts to depict life accurately, as it really is, without idealizing or romanticizing it. • Concerned with contemporary life and on middle and lower class lives in particular • Rejected extravagant language in favor of simple, everyday diction.

  5. Common Themes in Modernism • Disillusionment • Unfairness • Uncertainty • Bewilderment or confusion • Meaninglessness of modern life * These are usually implied rather than stated.

  6. Modern Literature’s “Plot” • Discards traditional plot structure • Plot diagram that includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution • Modern literature has no exposition or resolution • The focus on the fragmentation and uncertainty of human experience • Stories begin in the middle of the rising action and end with no clear resolution, leaving the readers to draw their on conclusions. • Major conflicts go unresolved.

  7. Stream of Consciousness • Type of writing that abandons chronology and attempts the moment-by-moment flow of a character’s perceptions and memories.

  8. Characteristics of Modernism • Features pessimism (rejection of optimism) of Victorian literature

  9. Characteristics of Modernism • Fragmented life of an alienated and dysfunctional person trying in vain to make sense of an urban, disjointed society

  10. Characteristics of Modernism • Rejects the American Dream • Most people cannot succeed in life.

  11. Modernist Characters Ask… • Who are we? • Where are we going? • What values should guide us to search for our identity? • What is the purpose of human existence?

  12. Plot Structure is Gone • Stories begin in the middle of rising action and end with no clear resolution • Readers draw their own conclusions • Major conflicts go unresolved

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